Our First Summer Outing - Denbies Vineyard

Hello there,

Welcome back to the Bake, Natter and Roll blog!

Traditionally August is the month when WI groups take a break from their regular monthly meetings and go on a summer trip. It's the perfect opportunity for members to spend a little more time together while enjoying a day out.

Earlier this year we asked our members where they would like to go on their first summer outing and several choices were put to the group vote. A trip to England's biggest vineyard - Denbies in Dorking - was the most popular choice!

Denbies Vineyard - Dorking

So last Saturday, nine Bake, Natter and Roll ladies travelled to Denbies where they enjoyed two tours of the estate - an indoor tour which included a wine tasting and talk about the estate and an outdoor tour where they viewed the vines from a train.

The ‘Indoor Cinema Vineyard Tour’ starts in the brand new cinema where we watched a short film about the vineyard. We learnt about the geology and history of the estate and experienced the changes in the vineyard through the seasons.

Next we went on the winery walking tour, which passed through the working winery with a full commentary from a Wine Tour Guide. Here we learnt a lot about the production process.

 Finally we made it to the cellar tasting where we enjoyed three different wines produced at Denbies, including the award winning Surrey Gold.....

Bake, Natter and Roll (Farnham WI) on the road for our summer 16 trip!

Next we headed outside for the train tour....the 50-minute vineyard tour takes visitors to some of the most beautiful viewing points in the vineyard. We listened to a commentary as we went around, learning more about this vast and beautiful estate.

Since we hadn't tried the sparkling wine during our last tour we decided we wanted to try some while on the next tour and treated ourselves to a glass...

The views from the tour were rather spectacular and we got close enough to see the grapes growing on the vines. 

We all thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Denbies and said we'd come back for another tour. We're looking forward to our next Bake, Natter and Roll trip!

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Bake, Natter and Roll......Meet the Committee - Part 3

Hello there,

Welcome back to the Bake, Natter and Roll Blog - today we're meeting another of our lovely committee members. This week it's the turn of Vice President Lydia....

I am Lydia and I have 2 children; Evie who is 3 and Willow who is 9 months and I have been married for 6 years.  I grew up in Farnham but have lived in Farnborough for about the last 8 years. I work part time for a forklift truck company. I love to cook, bake and craft when I have any spare time, which is hardly ever!

Why did you join Bake, Natter and Roll?

I joined bake , natter and roll as I really like what the WI Is about, playing a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, whilst being with other like minded women. It's also about getting time out for myself where I am Lydia and not always mummy!

What's your favourite cake?

My favourite cake- hmmmmmm so many but my ultimate favourite would be carrot or coffee and walnut, is it ok to have 2?!?

Tell us three facts about yourself:

I ran Brighton marathon in 2012

I was in Mark Owens' video Clementine

I spent 6.5 months travelling South America, New Zealand, Australia, Bali and Thailand.

Pop back soon to see what we've been up to at Bake, Natter and Roll and to meet another committee member!

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

The Denman Experience

Hello there,

Welcome back to Bake, Natter and Roll, the Farnham WI blog.

As a newly formed WI group we are always learning new things about the Women's Institute and today we're sharing with you a little about Denman.

So what's it all about then, we hear you cry....

Denman offers a wide variety of day and residential courses in cookery, craft and lifestyle. Set in the picturesque village of Marcham, in Oxfordshire, the Georgian mansion and seventeen acres of grounds provide the perfect atmosphere for learning.

Denman (from website)

With over 500 day and residential courses to choose from, Denman offers one of the widest ranges of short courses in the UK.  Guests can choose from day schools or two to four night residential courses, led by tutors with vast experience in their field and a passion for imparting their knowledge to others. Courses range from novice to experienced and everyone is welcome — men and women, members and non-members.

A sample of the courses available.....

WI Baking Weekender

World Street Food

A Taste of Italy

Polymer Clay Jewellery

Festive Willow

Leatherwork: From Belts to Bracelets

Family History for Beginners

Gardening: Three Famous Gardeners

Music Appreciation: Gershwin and Porter

There is something for everyone!

Guests who opt for a residential course get to stay, eat and relax at Denman as well. All of Denman’s sixty-nine en-suite bedrooms are designed and furnished by WI members — providing a unique and individual feel to each room. Guests also enjoy mouth-watering meals, sourced from local farms and independent suppliers, including a wide range of regional and seasonal recipes.

For more information about Denman and the current courses on offer, please visit their website.

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Inspired by our monthly meeting - Make, Do and Mend!

Hello there,

Welcome back to the Bake, Natter and Roll blog, we hope you're well today!

It's Rachel here, sharing with you a sewing project that I recently completed. If you popped by the blog recently you'll know all about our July monthly meeting, where we met Alice and Ginny and enjoyed a talk about make do and mend. I was really inspired by one part of the talk in particular - the bit where an old shirt was unpicked for the fabric. I was amazed at the amount of fabric that you got from just one shirt!

With this in mind I scoured the local charity shops in Farnham, looking for something I could unpick and upcycle into something new. I came across this shapeless dress in a fab tropical print, which cost me just £3.95. I wouldn't have picked the dress for myself, but I loved the fabric....

It's a size 16 dress in a light, floaty fabric that I thought would make a lovely summer top.

The first thing I needed to do was unpick the seams and see how much fabric I had to play with. I unpicked one of the side seams first, then I started on the bias binding that was attached to the neckline and also used for the straps. 

I wish I had been a little bit more careful with the bias binding, the majority of it came off really easily and was reuseable.....but in my haste a bit of it ended up with holes. 

I was really impressed with the amount of fabric I got.....this little lot would have cost me more than £4.00 if I bought it new....

I have a pattern for a simple, sleeveless top that I knew would work well in this fabric. I knew I could reuse the bias binding for the arm holes, so I just needed to add a little black bias binding for my neck line. 

So I got started, cutting my fabric out....with a little help from Steve the cat....

As mentioned above I reused the original bias binding for my arm holes....

...and used a little black bias binding from my craft stash for the neck line....

I had more than enough fabric for this top, and although it wasn't the easiest fabric to work with I was pleased with my finished piece and I've already worn this top out....

There is nothing better than making your own clothes....having something that no one else has and that tends to fit you better than shop bought clothes.

I also loved the challenge of taking something old and making it into something I would wear. 

My top tip if you wanted to do this yourself (and I would encourage you to) is to take your time when unpicking the seams. Less speed means less rips in your fabric!

I'll definitely be doing this again in the future - thanks to Alice and Ginny for the inspiration!

Thank you for popping by today!

Rachel - The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Our July Meeting .....Make Do and Mend

Hello there,

Welcome back to the Bake, Natter and Roll Farnham WI Blog!

This month Vice President Kate hosted the monthly meeting which included a talk and demonstration from Alice and Ginny and a clothes swish! The theme for the meeting was "make do and mend" and we enjoyed an informative evening, led by Alice and Ginny, which was followed by time clothes swapping...giving our unwanted clothes a new home!

Alice and Ginny is a collaboration of friends Alice Butcher and Ginny Farquhar, who provide fun, informative sewing workshops that focus on building good core sewing skills, enabling greater confidence for independent sewing. They offer sewing & craft classes for all ages in Hampshire & Surrey.

During the evening Alice and Ginny talked through the importance of the "make do and mend" movement and how we can all learn simple skills to prolong the life of our clothes or reuse them in an imaginative way.

We saw lots of tools of the trade during the talk and were given ideas and tips for upcycling clothes. Alice also showed us how much fabric you can gain from unpicking an old shirt!

We were also given some top tips for sewing on missing buttons....and we all got to have a go....

Once the talk had finished the clothes swap commenced. Each attending member was inviting to bring along good quality clothes that they no longer wanted, and then we swapped....

a fun way to share clothes, extending the life of unwanted items in your wardrobe!

Once again this was a very informative evening, which left our members feeling inspired to give their wardrobes a new lease of life!

We'd like to thank Alice and Ginny for joining us.

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Bake, Natter and Roll......Meet the Committee - Part 1

Hello there,

Welcome back to Bake, Natter and Roll - the Farnham WI blog!

Today we wanted to start introducing our WI Committee. You see us each month at the meetings, see us all on Facebook......but it's time to find out a little more about us!

And we're going to start with our lovely President... Cat Hoare...

Cat is married to Gav, they have three children and live in Farnham.

Why did you join Bake Natter and Roll?
I wanted to join the WI to make new friends, have some "me" time and learn some new things. There weren't any groups in the area with similar aged people, so I decided to start one!

What is your favourite cake? 
Lemon drizzle

Tell us three facts about you....
1) I have 3 children who are amazing but completely exhausting!
2) I love baking and used to have a business selling cupcakes.
3) One of my favourite things to do is curl up with a good book, hence why I've started a Bake Natter and Roll book club.

Pop back to the blog soon to see what we've been up to and meet more of the committee!

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Introducing.....the Bake, Natter and Roll Sub Groups!

Hello there,

Welcome back to Bake, Natter and Roll - the Farnham WI Blog!

An important part of every successful WI group are the sub-groups which run outside of the monthly meetings. As a newly established WI group, Bake Natter and Roll have only just started running their sub groups, but we're looking forward to sharing everything we get up to over the coming months. 

So what's a sub group we hear you cry.....well in its basic form its an interest group....a meeting of like minded ladies with a shared passion / interest. Sub groups can range from pudding clubs and rambling groups to crochet circles or theatre groups. As long as there is enough interest in a subject (and enough time) a sub-group can exist. 

President Cat has started a Sunday Book Club....here she tells us a bit more about it....

The first meeting of the BNR Sunday Book Club was on 26th June. where five of our lovely members enjoyed bubbly, chocolates, nibbles and putting the world to rights, and occasionally even remembered to discuss the book! 

Our first read was Dietland by Sarai Walker, a book with themes of dieting and body image with a rather rousing feminist message behind it, which almost everyone enjoyed reading, although it wasn't quite what we were expecting. 

Next month we'll be chatting about Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.

Sub-groups, like book clubs, are a really good way for diverse groups of members to get together outside the main monthly meetings and get to know others while indulging in shared interests. We have several book clubs getting started and other groups include a regular baby/toddler meet-up. 

We'll also shortly have a walking group, sewing group and crochet group getting going. Sub-groups depend on members being willing to co-ordinate them, so if you are interested in joining or setting up a group please do let us know!

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Our Mindfulness Meeting - February 2016

Hello there,

Welcome back to Bake, Natter and Roll - the Farnham WI blog.

This week we had our second monthly meeting - with our first external meeting. I think the whole committee felt that this was our first real meeting as a WI and were looking forward to seeing all the members again.

In this meeting 51 members and 7 guests joined us for an introduction to mindfulness, led by Suzette Jones Health & Wellbeing Adviser The Diocese of Guildford.

Suzette took us through the basic principals of mindfulness, introducing us to the concept of paying attention to our experience in the present moment with an attitude of acceptance. She explained that anyone can practice mindfulness and took us through some simple exercises.

We practiced mindful smiling - a very simple exercise where we did nothing but smile and focus on our smiles for a full thirty seconds.....

Suzette encouraged us to smile more, especially when we have moments in life when we become irritated. Next time you're stuck in a traffic jam give it a go - smile and for a few deep slow breaths.

Evidence shows that mindfulness practice can boost our well-being and compassion for ourselves and others. Being in the moment and paying attention makes us more present and awake in life.

As well as mindful smiling, we also learnt about the three step breathing space meditation and mindful eating - really thinking about the food we are eating, where has it come from and who created it, before eating it.

Suzette encouraged us to continue practising mindfulness at home - there are many different ways to do this, from colouring books, to guided mindfulness meditation to simply taking time out each day to focus the mind on your breath. 

The meeting was enjoyed by all our members and we'd like to thank Suzette for joining us for the evening

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter and Roll Committee

Don't forget to try mindful smiling next time you feel your irritation levels rise!

Bake, Natter and Roll - Our Provisional Programme - Part 1

Hello there,

Welcome back to Bake, Natter and Roll - The Farnham WI Blog!

When you first launch a new WI group you need to produce a provisional programme of activities for the year ahead and so today we thought we'd share with you our first programme of activities.

You already know that we started the year with a spot of speed crafting....but what is still to come for our lovely members? From social media to jam making from Christmas craft to gardening - we've got lots to look forward to! In Part 1 of this blog article we will look at January - June 2016.....

18th Feb - An introduction to mindfulness

Simple meditation techniques to help us focus on the present are believed to promote well-being and improve mental health. We're going to hear from our guest speaker Suzette Jones MSc RNLD, Health and Wellbeing Adviser for the Diocese of Guildford.

17th March - Let it Grow, Let it Grow

This month we are being joined by a grower from Farnham Local Food, who will give us more information about this exciting local community project, as well as giving us tips on growing fruit and veg at home.

21st April - General Natter

A night to cement new friendships we've made over cake and a drink (or two) - members can bring a craft project they are working on or maybe a board game. Be prepared for lots of nattering!

19th May - Tea-riffic

Advice on managing your online presence from author of the afternoon tea blog "Tea With Me and Friends". Find Twitter and Facebook confusing....not sure what Instagram is...this is the night for you! We'll also be enjoying a spot of afternoon tea!

16th June - WI-NEY Night!

Who doesn't enjoy a tipple every now and then?? Come along and try a selection of wines that we will have available. We'll have a wine expert on hand who will tell us a bit more about grape varieties and the areas they come from. Please drink responsibly!

That's the first half of our year covered - we hope you think its a great start to Bake, Natter and Roll! Pop back next week to see the rest of the programme!

Bake, Natter and Roll - Farnham WI

Why not join us on Facebook or Twitter - come and share photos of your latest bake or craft!

Thank you for popping by today,

The Bake, Natter & Roll Committee

Craft time - Let's make paper flowers

Hello there,

Welcome back to Bake, Natter & Roll - the Farnham WI blog!

One of our crafts at our first WI meeting in January was paper flowers. These are easy to make, but look great and can be used to decorate all kinds of things.

Cat made them to decorate presents last Christmas

You will need:
Brown paper
Stamps, ink & glitter paint (or other decorating materials)
Card for petal templates
PVA glue
White paper

To make the flowers:
1. First you need to decorate the brown paper. Get creative for this part - Cat used stamps, glitter paint and tipex for her flowers.
2. Cut out a template for your petal shapes - 1 smaller and 1 larger. Try different shapes and sizes to create different flowers.
3. Use the template to cut out the petal shapes - you will need approximately 5 or 6 of each size for every flower.
4. Next cut out a small rectangle of white paper to make the stamens.
5. Cut the top third of the paper into narrow strips and then roll it up tightly before sticking the end down using a small amount of PVA glue. Fan out the cut end and voila - you have a stamen.

6. Now crumple each of the petals to give the flower a more natural look when finished - don't be afraid to give them a really good crumple as it gives the petals a great texture.
7. Starting with the smaller petals, use the glue to attach them one at a time to the rolled end of the stamen, overlapping them slightly.

8. Once you have added the small petals repeat for the larger petals, overlapping the smaller petals.

9. When complete, fan the petals out to open up the flower

As you can see these flowers are really pretty and can be used to adorn many different things.....

They can also be as unique as you, as the decoration on the petals is designed by you.

So what are you waiting for - why not give it a go....and don't forget to pop by our Facebook page and show us your make!

The original idea for this project is from A Piece of Rainbow blog.

Thank you for popping by today,

the Bake, Natter & Roll Committee

Our First Meeting - January 2016

Hello and welcome back to Bake, Natter and Roll - the Farnham WI blog!

On Thursday 21st January we officially became a WI group, with 69 ladies signing up to be members on the night. If you've popped by our blog previously you will know a little about our history and why we started this group, so today we're going to tell you a little bit about that first meeting.

As you might have guessed from our name we love a spot of cake and so a cake table will be a regular feature of our monthly meetings.....

Lydia and Laura preparing the cake table

Currently members of the committee have been providing the rather scrummy cakes at each meeting, but in the future we are looking to run a cake rota with our members....any willing volunteers please get in touch!

The scrummy cakes - which was your favourite?

As with anything new there is always a little nervousness that people might not turn up on the night, we might have prepared all that cake and have no one to eat it! 

But we shouldn't have worried - word had spread on social media and we had a queue of lovely ladies waiting to join us when we opened the doors at 8:15pm....

Our membership queue

It was very exciting to see our first official member sign up....

Our first member!

At the first WI meeting there is a certain amount of official bits and pieces that you need to complete in order to form the WI officially. We had our local WI Advisers join us again, and following a general welcome from our President Cat, they shared a little history of the WI with us. 

Did you know that the first Women's Institute was formed in Ontario, Canada? To find out more about the fascinating history of the WI visit their website.

Next came the voting - first an agreement that the WI should form and second that the members were happy with the proposed committee....luckily for us everyone was happy....

You voted yes!

Next came the signing of the constitution, which was done by our president Cat and our Secretary Laura....

Laura and Cat sign the constitution - making us an official WI

Once all the official bits were finished the fun could commence and we dedicated the rest of the evening to crafting. The original idea was to hold a speed crafting session, with ladies moving between tables to try the crafts. But as we found out....it's quite hard to move over 70 ladies in a small-ish hall!

Let's craft!

Instead we decided to move the crafts around and everyone got to try one or two of the following:

pom pom making ...with forks

fabric flowers

paper flowers

There was plenty of nattering as the crafts got underway.....

Pom pom making!

And ladies enjoyed showing their makes...

Finished paper flowers

A paper flower being modelled

Ladies also had the opportunity to sign up to the various interest groups which will start running soon - from gardening to wine tasting from papercraft to pudding club, there really is something for everyone! More information to follow soon.

Everyone who attended the evening also went home with a lovely goodie bag which included our provisional programme (beautifully designed for us by Helix) and also some lovely goodies donated by Neals Yard in Farnham .

Our beautiful programme designed by Helix

All in all it was a very successful first meeting and we can't wait to see everyone again next month. 

Our next meeting is on Thursday 18th February where we will be enjoying an introduction to mindfulness with speaker Suzette Jones....and of course we will be enjoying a spot of cake!

Don't forget to pop by our Facebook page or Twitter to see our latest news!

Thank you for popping by today,

the Bake, Natter & Roll Committee

A new beginning....

Hello and welcome to the Bake, Natter & Roll blog!

We are a brand new Women's Institute (WI) group based in Farnham, Surrey who meet on the third Thursday of every month. This Thursday night was our first official meeting and we welcomed 69 new members - which is amazing!

Bake, Natter & Roll - The Farnham WI Committee

But before we tell you about our new adventures, why don't we share a little of our history with you....because you can't just start a WI. 

Our journey began last year when our co-founders Cat and Kate decided that Farnham was missing a group where women could make new friends, learn new skills and share experiences. They liked the idea of joining a WI group, but couldn't find one locally that suited the experience they wanted....so they decided to start their own!

Cat started a Facebook page to gauge interest in a group like this and was overwhelmed by the amount of ladies who responded. An initial meeting was arranged with a WI Adviser to talk about the idea some more and to see if there were enough willing volunteers to form a committee. Interest in the group was mounting all this time and in November 2015 we held a preliminary meeting so everyone could find out a little more and vote on a name for the group!

We expected about 40 ladies to turn up at the preliminary meeting.....and were totally amazed when we welcome about 60 into the hall for an evening of natter and cakes! 

It was great to meet so many like-minded ladies.

Bake, Natter & Roll Preliminary Meeting - October 2015

On the night we voted to start the new WI group and also voted on the name.....

Bake, Natter & Roll (Farnham WI) was born!

Fast forward to the 21st January and a committee of seven ladies were waiting nervously to see how many people would actually turn up to the first meeting and would want to join us...but we shouldn't have worried....

Bake, Natter & Roll (Farnham WI) first meeting - January 2016

Over 70 ladies joined us for cake and speed crafting! 

But we will save that for another blog post.

We're a WI Group for the young and the young at heart.....our provisional programme for 2016 includes, among other things, an introduction to mindfulness, a talk on social media and a wine tasting evening....but don't worry there will be plenty of crafts, cakes and the odd bit of jam making too!

There will be cakes....

.....and some crafts!

The Committee is made up of:

Cat - President

Laura - Secretary

Miriam - Treasurer

Kate - Vice President

Lydia - Vice President

Rachel - Vice President

Judith - Membership Rep

Take a peek at what we all look like in the photos on the sidebar! If you see us at a meeting or in Farnham don't forget to say hi!

We hope you will follow us on our adventures on the blog....you can join us on Facebook and Twitter too! We'd love to hear from you, so please get in touch!

Thank you for popping by today,

the Bake, Natter & Roll Committee